Message to Farmers
Antibiotics in livestock have
been overused and are beginning
to become increasingly more
ineffective. Tuberculosis for
example is now resistant to
antibiotics and it is not the only
one. Bacteria have become
resistant as a result of
overexposure. Some bacteria had
a mutation that allowed them to be
resistant to the antibiotic and
through natural selection those
bacteria stayed alive, allowing
them to pass the trait to the
offspring. Antibiotics in the field of
agriculture require major changes
because they account for 70% of
the antibiotics used in the United
States. Public Health officials are
becoming increasingly concerned
about food borne illnesses caused
by Salmonella and Campylobacter.
A resistant strain like
Campylobacter has easy passage
to humans through raw and
undercooked poultry. The Center
for Disease Control (CDC)
estimates that there are about
Antibiotics in
Livestock
There are a few things that
can be done to solve this ever
increasing problem. First of all, the
antibiotics are used not to cure
By: Joey Aversa, Wesley
sick livestock, but instead used to
Fedak, and Adam D’Abate
increase the animal’s weight gain
per unit of feed. If farmers were to
only use antibiotics when animals
two to four million Campylobacter
are sick or to prevent impending
infections per year resulting in
sickness then this problem would
over 250 deaths in the United
be solved. Another solution is to
States alone. Bacteria can also
give the livestock better living
gain a cross-resistance. This
conditions to reduce the risk of
means the bacteria becomes
illness, getting rid of the need for
resistant one drug and also
becomes resistant to a drug that is antibiotics in the first place. Even
similar chemically. One example of though these are straightforward
solutions, they are very difficult to
this is Vancomycin. Rising levels
of bacteria that are resistant to this implement. The antibiotics are
drug have been a result of the use given to animals through food and
water over extended periods of
of Avoparcin in livestock. Even
time. During this time bacteria are
though the link between animal
being exposed to the antibiotic
agriculture and human disease is
and are gaining a resistance to it.
in need of additional study,
The most sensible way to solve
scientists have concluded that
antibiotics used in animals are the this problem is to identify and
lessen the non-crucial uses and
main reason for antibiotic
save these drugs for human and
resistance.
veterinary uses.
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http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/prescription-fortrouble.html
http://www.ahi.org/issues-advocacy/animal-antibiotics/
http://www.porkcares.org/h56hu/index.html?gclid=CInsmK_Ew7YCFc47Ogod2TUAYw